Polyacetylene have long been known as electrically conductive materials. They show a range of conductivities, ranging from insulators to quasi metal conductors. They have been used in energy storage devices, for example in construction of lightweight, solid batteries, and for energy conversion. However, polyacetylenes have several disadvantages which limit their applications. They are unstable, in particular to oxygen, and have poor solubility and poor processibility.
Substituted polyacetylene generally have no conductive properties. These polymers are typically used to manufacture permselective membranes for gas separation. They have improved stability toward oxygen in comparison to unsubstituted polyacetylene, but possess low levels of conjugation and poor processibility. Both unsubstituted and substituted polyacetylenes are difficult to prepare and their polymerization is often accompanied by the formation of undesirable cyclized by-products.
There is a need for electrically conductive, stable polyacetylenes that are oxygen-stable, processible and which can be synthesized without the formation of undesired by-products. Such materials would find extensive application in energy storage devices, in the manufacture of electrodes, as solid electrolytes, and as permselective membranes.